• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, August 2, 2013

PepsiCo's Mountain Dew has launched new "Portraits" ads featuring NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., pro snowboarder Danny Davis and pro skateboarder Paul Rodriguez.

The 30-second ads launched online on Aug. 1 and will begin running on network and cable television on Aug. 3, continuing through the end of the month.

All three ads can be viewed at www.MountainDew.com/Portraits. 

Footage from the spots will also be available online as animated GIFs for fans to share through social networks. 

Mountain Dew and BBDO New York had the athletes work with directors to capture "the things they are most passionate about," said Mountain Dew VP marketing Greg Lyons.

Animation experts at Psyop were enlisted to design multiple looping content and complex visual effects. 

The ads combine matte paintings, live footage, 3D layers and 2D animation to create the effect of an intricate, Bosch-like "living painting," Psyop co-founder and creative director of visual effects told TheDrum.com. 

The Portraits ads are an extension of Mountain Dew's “This Is How We Dew” campaign.